


love is a battlefield

by daydoodles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, POV Third Person, Period-Typical Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4279818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydoodles/pseuds/daydoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was a request from <a href="http://aroarmin.tumblr.com/post/123320795465/resident-longwinded-anon-its-fairly#notes">this</a> awesome writer pallette on tumblr, and I really liked writing it so I decided to post it here too! The prompt was "Kagehina + steampunk + war," which is pretty self-explanatory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	love is a battlefield

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I knew literally nothing about steampunk before writing this, so please bear with me if it doesn't exactly fit the genre~

The engine was completely deafening, and Tobio had just about had enough of it.

He'd been in this godforsaken tank for at least five hours, and he hadn't even been told where they were going, despite his rank. He looked round at the ragtag group of Japanese soldiers that had been shipped out to England for assistance in taking over Africa, and they all looked just as apathetic as he felt. Well, all but one, that is.

He had clearly come from a poor family, much unlike Tobio's own aristocratic lineage, judging from his ruddy complexion and lean, muscular figure. He was wearing the standard gear for war; a simple vest emblazoned with the crest of the Japanese army, grey trousers, and metal-plated boots, along with various gadgets scattered over his person. The only things that really stood out about him were his fiery hair sticking out from under his goggles that were perched on the crown of his head, and the fact that he was missing his left forearm completely; in its place was a brass (or was it copper?) prosthetic that was hissing out steam at a mile a minute and clearly needed to be oiled.

Tobio wondered vaguely what had caused the soldier to lose that arm, but he was preoccupied with much more pressing matters. His second in command, Nishinoya, was driving the tank, and Tanaka was manning the steam engine. Noya shouted something, but it was lost in the screeching of the old machine, and Tobio had to go to the engine room to be able to hear anything properly.

"- in from the northwest!" was all Tobio heard, even still, but judging from the slightly high pitch of Noya's voice, they were about to have company. An enemy company, to be exact - Noya always got a littler overexcited when they actually entered combat.

Tobio turned to his right, yelling so that he could be heard. "Tanaka, increase speed by 45 percent! We need to get to the top of that hill before they do." He pointed at a steep incline that was rapidly approaching, and Tanaka gave a thumbs-up as confirmation.

"Roger that, Kageyama-gensui!" He saluted enthusiastically and Tobio rolled his eyes a bit. He was lucky his division was fully of crazy bastards like Tanaka and Noya, even if it was a bit annoying at times.

The tank was quickly closing the gap to the top of the hill, and Tobio figured he'd better prepare the new recruits for what was coming. The emperor had only agreed to help the British under strict conditions, one of which was that the generals got to command their own troops however they pleased. In times like this, Tobio was grateful for that mercy.

"Listen up, soldiers!" he hollered over the screaming engine. "We're about to engage the enemy; we don't have visual confirmation on numbers yet, so we'll just assume it's a whole shit-ton of the bastards. Do as I say, no matter what, and for God's sake don't try to be a hero. It's every man for himself out here, got it?"

There was a general murmur of consensus throughout the cramped space, but that orange-haired kid raised his hand. "What, are we in grade school?" he scoffed. "What do you want, soldier?"

"Name's Hinata, sir, and I have a question!"

Tobio stared at him for a beat, oddly intrigued but also losing patience as they neared the crest of the hill. "Spit it out, then, dumbass!"

Hinata fidgeted with one of the gears on his prosthetic distractedly as he said, "I've got something I think might be useful! Permission to use it, sir?" He smiled up at Tobio, no doubt oblivious to the fact that this was quite literally a matter of life and death.

"Permission denied. I don't even know what the hell it is!"

"But, sir, if I could just -"

Hinata was interrupted by the screeching halt of the tank's tracks digging into the dirt beneath them. "No time, Hinata. Move out!" Tobio cranked a lever to his right, and the door slowly dropped open with a dull thud. He stepped out onto the uneven terrain, and a tall man with long hair materialised from the nearby bushes.

"What've we got, Asahi?" Tobio asked him, unconsciously fiddling with the revolver that was strapped to his thigh. He doubted he'd need it in this battle, considering all the cannons - and tanks - they had, but it had become his safety blanket of sorts.

His scout shrugged, sort of unimpressed. "They've only got about half the manpower we do, and I only saw three tanks, tops. We've got this one in the bag, sir." He scratched his neck absentmindedly, probably still going over the probability of the enemy managing some freak victory.

Tobio reached up to clap him on the shoulder. "Thanks, keep up the good work." He nodded in dismissal, and Asahi ran off behind the tree line to do whatever the hell it was he usually did in battle. He was one of the few Tobio didn't keep a close eye on, partially because he knew the older man hated the pressure of being watched.

He made his way back to the tank, where Noya and Tanaka were passing out various weapons to the ten or so soldiers that had ridden with them. Both of them were making the most ridiculous faces humanly possible in an attempt to intimidate the newcomers, but no one was really taking them seriously. Not that they should have.

"Kageyama, what's the plan?" he heard a familiar voice ask from behind him. Turning around, he saw a tall blond decorated with general's badges leaning against a truck.

"We don't really have one, there's no need. Asahi said we've got them outnumbered at least 2-1."

The blond exhaled sharply, adjusting the chain of his monocle so it wasn't hitting him in the neck. "Asahi is modest, too, so this is definitely going to be a bloodbath. Poor bastards."

"You don't really feel bad for them, Tsukishima, so why bother with formality?"

"That wasn't formality, just an excuse to call them all bastards." He waved a hand lazily, and a freckled boy with wild hair poking out under his top hat jogged to his side. "Yamaguchi, just tell them we'll do the usual. Nothing special needed here." The other boy - Tsukishima's own right hand man - nodded, scampering off to relay the orders to the vast troops. "Well, see you on the other side, Kags." Tsukishima pushed off from the truck, sauntering off to do nothing in particular.

"Respect your superiors, asshole!" Tobio yelled at Tsukki's back, knowing full well it wouldn't make a bit of difference. He sighed, making a bee line for his own troops.

Technically speaking, everyone here was under his command; but since he couldn't possibly directly assist them all, he mostly stuck with the newest recruits. They were the ones who needed guidance, especially when there was no highly structured plan in effect; they typically didn't do well with running around aimlessly shooting at whoever was trying to kill them.

"Listen up, soldiers!" He smacked his hands together, getting their attention. Tanaka and Noya continued preparing the weapons, so he could spare a few minutes of precious time to brief these inexperienced fighters. "There isn't any strategy today, just look for the crest of South Africa and shoot whoever's wearing it. I don't care what they look like, how they beg, what cheap tricks they try. Just shoot all these fuckers so we can go home."

Hinata raised his hand again, the idiot. "But sir, what if one of our own is in trouble? Shouldn't we help them instead of just shooting everybody in sight?"

Tobio took a step closer, glaring. "No. You're just going to get the both of you killed, and this would be the most asinine battle to have excessive casualties. We've got double the manpower, triple the firepower, and thousands of years' worth of military evolution on our side. Don't make idiotic mistakes, or I'll personally shove a musket up your ass."

Hinata giggled a little, but saluted anyway. "Aye-aye, sir!"

"And don't patronise me, or I'll make sure you're at the very front of our first line of defense."

\----------

Twenty minutes later, everything was as ready as it would ever be, and the enemy was upon them. Tobio and his small group of riffraff were somewhere in the middle of the troops; not really in the front lines, but not so far back that they were completely useless. Actually, Tsukishima's men were leading the way; as much as Tobio hated Tsukki as a person, he was a damn good general.

As such, there wasn't any close-range fighting to be had, so Tobio had assigned Noya and Tanaka their usual task of manning the tank and shooting any of the enemy troops within range. The rest of the soldiers had scattered, probably in an effort to get a piece of the action, so to speak. Tobio knew from experience that they wouldn't be so eager the next time around, if they even got a next time. But for now, he let them raise hell for the savages so they could all get the fuck out of there.

Annoyingly, and somewhat surprisingly, Hinata was the only newcomer with the sense to stay by Tobio's side. He wasn't doing anything particularly useful, just sitting on a boulder and humming as he shot cannonball after cannonball in the enemy's general vicinity. Sure, it was better than doing nothing, but he wasn't exactly aiming well.

Tobio sat by him on the rock, mostly because his boots were pinching his heels and it was making his feet go numb, but the idiot bedhead took it as an invitation to make small talk.

"So, Kageyama-san, -"

"Don't call me that, moron."

Hinata smirked as he cleaned the inside of the cannon with expert efficiency, and in pretty good time, too. "What should I call you then?"

"Sir works just fine, but if you must say my name then at least say Kageyama-gensui." He made a mental note of how thorough Hinata was being, even if he wasn't aiming, but outwardly he just frowned.

"Okay, Kageyama-gensui," Hinata practically sang, "What made you want to join the army?"

Tobio blinked several times, unsure if he'd heard the question right. "Nothing in particular, to be honest. My parents died when I was eighteen, and I didn't want to inherit all the responsibility that came with being nobility, so I decided to earn the respect of my peers. The only way I could do that without schooling was the army, so I joined and now here I am."

"How old are you, sir?" Hinata was quickly making a habit of addressing Tobio far too directly, and it was a little endearing, but mostly agitating.

"Thirty-two next month," he said flatly.

"Gwah! It only took you fourteen years to reach the rank of Marshal General?" Hinata was practically yelling at this point, and it reminded Tobio of two other certain members of his brigade.

"That would be logical to assume, yes." He picked up a stick, dragging it through the mud unceremoniously. "What about you, Hinata?"

"What about me, sir?"

"Why did you join the army?" Tobio had made it a point not to get too attached to his soldiers, except for a select few he knew would be around a long time, but something about Hinata was intriguing. It was probably his innate cheeriness, despite the constant hiss of engines and creaking of rusty gears and explosions of gunpowder that were currently surrounding them. Or maybe it was just the damn golden eyes of his that matched his fake hand perfectly, but Tobio didn't care much either way. As long as he could distract Tobio from the smell of death that was being carried up toward them by the wind, it didn't matter.

Hinata stopped loading the cannon, eyes glassing over as he recalled something Tobio probably didn't want to know, but was probably going to be told anyway. "My sister," was all he said, much to Tobio's surprise.

He was a bit disappointed too, if he was being honest. "Your sister made you join?"

"No, that's not it..." He looked away, pushing his goggles further down onto his forehead. Why he wasn't wearing them over his eyes was beyond Tobio. "She got sick about five years ago. Our parents died when we were really young, so we always just picked up odd jobs to survive. But after Natsu got sick, I was the only one who could work, and we could never make enough to cover food and her medication. I heard from a friend that you could get perks for stuff like that if you joined the army, so I got enlisted and they've been paying for her doctor bills ever since."

"Damn, how'd you manage that deal?"

Hinata shrugged. "It took some...convincing, but they came around eventually."

Tobio didn't care to know what he meant by that, so he changed directions. "Well, you've obviously done this before." He gestured to Hinata's quickly working hands, which were once again lighting the cannon's fuse.

Hinata shook his head, and his hair danced around his face. "Sorry sir, but no. I was just stationed in some tiny outpost in the middle of the mountains, never got any action there. Practised a lot, though."

"Well I guess it's paid off, then. You might actually survive this, lucky bastard."

"That makes two of us, sir."

\----------

Two hours later, and the battle had finally reached a climax. Tobio and Hinata had since parted ways; Hinata had grown bored with the cannon, and grabbed a knife before sauntering off to find a worthy opponent. What the hell he planned to do with just a switchblade, Tobio couldn't tell. It wasn't really at the top of his list of concerns, though.

Noya and Tanaka were still raising hell with the tank, but they'd moved to a better vantage point so they could do more damage. They'd already incapacitated the enemy's few tanks, so it was mostly foot soldiers doing the work now. Tobio liked this stage of the battle best; it meant he actually got to do something.

"Suga, get my horse!" he called to a grey-haired boy sitting against a makeshift fence.

The man stood up, brushing off his trousers and checking the stopwatch hooked to his vest. "Took you a little longer than usual, sir! What could have been the hold-up?" he asked teasingly, and Tobio rolled his eyes.

"There was no hold-up, besides the incompetence of my troops. It's probably Tsukishima's fault."

"Well, we know it isn't Daichi's doing." Suga smiled distractedly as he saddled up the horse, which was midnight black except for a single streak of chestnut red in its mane. He'd long had feelings for Sawamura, Tobio's favourite general under his command, but it was undeniable that Daichi was good at his job.

"Not at all," was all he said, not really in the mood to gush over his general's military prowess. Not that he ever was, but that was hardly the point.

"Ready to go, sir!" Suga chirped as he handed the reins over to Tobio. He took them, thanked his farrier, and trotted off toward the front lines.

This was his element, his domain. He knew he could excel here, if not in the stuffy dinner parties of the privileged life he'd lived before. He felt more at home, despite the fact that this was the last place most people would feel relaxed. Maybe he liked flirting with death, or maybe it was pure adrenaline rush, or it could have even been something else entirely; regardless of the reason, he embraced it like a childhood friend. He had never been one for chivalry, or much of a people person; and when you're killing people, they tend not to worry about political correctness. So naturally, Tobio was more relaxed when he was being blatantly violent than when he was trying to murder someone's intellect. It just made more sense to him.

So of course, as soon as the soldiers that had been with him for any period of time saw that he'd mounted his horse, they knew this battle was over. They parted like the Red Sea, moving out of his path so he had a clear shot at any African soldiers in his trajectory. It was safer for them to let him handle it, and more fun that way for Tobio himself. He left behind him a river of blood, his musket firing in time with his rapidly increasing heartbeat.

This time was different, though. He'd sensed it from the beginning of his rampage, but it was becoming glaringly obvious the closer he got to the front lines. Someone else was already there, and that someone was as strong as he was, and possibly even more passionate.

He realised who it was within seconds of spotting them; all he saw was a flash of orange shining in the blaring midday sun, and that was all it took to confirm his suspicions. He spurred his horse to go faster, closing the gap between himself and Hinata in mere seconds.

"Kyah! Finally here to join the party, sir?" Hinata shot over his shoulder, tossing his knife into a soldier's neck without even looking.

"As it turns out, I am! What the hell have you been doing while I was gone?" His horse was pawing the ground eagerly, so Tobio started shooting nearby soldiers as he talked, pacing round Hinata as the other boy spun to cover Tobio's back.

"Just the usual, sir. All clean kills, no maiming this time!"

"This time?" Tobio choked out as he yanked his pistol from his holster and started firing away, tossing his used up musket onto the dirt.

"I don't have the best track record for restraint!" was Hinata's only means of explanation, before he tossed another knife into the back of a retreating soldier, jumping into the air to avoid an attack from behind.

Tobio shot the soldier that had been targeting Hinata, and he fell to the ground in a bloody slump. "Well, I don't much care what you do as long as you do it fast."

"Copy that!" Hinata had apparently run out of knives, so he was just punching people at this point. But he was doing it fast, granted.

"Hey dumbass, why don't you have a weapon?" Tobio was still firing away, pausing every now and then to reload.

"I do, but you didn't give me permission to use it!" he said as he jammed his fingers into an African's throat, effectively collapsing the man's windpipe.

"Fine then, use it! Just don't cause any trouble for us or I swear to God I'll kill you myself."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, sir!" Hinata was way too happy about this, Tobio noted. But it was too late to take it back; he was already flipping a switch on his prosthetic arm, which started whirring and....changing, somehow.

Tobio didn't know how, exactly, but a miniature cannon materialised in place of Hinata's left hand. It was at this moment that he noticed a small pack slung against Hinata's hip, which was undeniably the source of steam for his small weapon of mass destruction. Hinata fiddled with it a bit, then cocked his arm, looking up at Tobio as if in one last request for permission.

"You've got a goddamn cannon for a hand?" was all he said, and Hinata laughed as he wasted no time wrecking havoc on the enemy forces.

He'd taken out at least seven people in the time it took him to say, "It's easier to aim than that huge-ass monster you had me on earlier!" and Tobio had to admit he was impressed. Kicking his horse to pick up the pace, it became an unspoken competition between them to see who could inflict the most damage to the opposing troops.

After a while, they fell into a rhythm; Hinata would jump inhumanly high, and Tobio would steer his horse head-on underneath the other boy; then they'd both shoot from left to right, so they could essentially shoot 360 degrees almost simultaneously. It was nothing if not effective; most of the other soldiers had long since abandoned the area to let the enemy deal with those two on their own.

Eventually, the African troops had been all but extinguished, and their general cowered up to Tobio and surrendered - probably to save his own life. Tobio wasn't a sentimental person, unfortunately for him, so he didn't even bat an eye as he ordered Hinata to "deal with the vagrant." Hinata did as he was told, like a good soldier, and their victory was secured by one blast of steam and a miniature cannonball.

\----------

Hinata managed to stay alive for a long time after that, and even more impressively, he managed to get Tobio to warm up to him. They weren't friends, exactly, but they were definitely combat partners; they had the same kind of unexplainable bond that Noya and Tanaka shared. It was one that was forged in blood, literally, and would take a lot more than death to be broken.

Maybe that's why Tobio was so protective of Hinata. Maybe it was the reason he promoted Hinata as his third in command (after Noya, who had been around much longer), and maybe it explained the fact that he always kept Hinata by his side. Some of the more skeptical soldiers whispered that Hinata was his security blanket; that without him, Tobio would have been too vulnerable. Tobio thought it was quite the opposite, because once you get attached to someone you have something to lose.

On the other hand, you also have something to fight for. From then on, the gruelling trek across Africa seemed less monotonous, and the struggle of battle had more purpose. As long as Tobio reminded himself that the more people he killed, the less people were trying to kill Hinata, he could endure another day of hell.

Some people would say that was fate, but Tobio had long since stopped believing in such childish daydreams. Hinata said it was love, and after two years of fighting together, he'd confessed on many occasions the way he felt for Tobio. Tobio didn't believe in love, either, but he definitely wasn't opposed to taking on the whole world if it meant he could have Hinata at his side for the rest of his life.


End file.
